'Anger' PC's killers still eligible for early release

The head of a police federation has said there is "a lot of anger" that the killers of an on-duty officer will still be eligible for early release under revised plans.

PC Andrew Harper, from Wallingford, died in 2019 when he was dragged by a car as three teenagers fled the scene of a Berkshire quad bike theft.

Under updated plans to tackle prison overcrowding, two of PC Harper's killers - Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers - would be eligible for release next year.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he "wanted to go even further", but that would not be possible without the prison system collapsing.

Cole and Bowers were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2020, and will become eligible for release after serving half of their sentences.

The driver of the vehicle, Henry Long, received a 16-year sentence and will not be eligible.

On Monday, the government announced revised plans that would exclude prisoners who committed rape, grooming, and serious child sex offences from an early release scheme for England and Wales.

But people guilty of manslaughter are still eligible for earlier release.

Responding to the announcement, Thames Valley Police Chief Constable Jason Hogg said he was "beyond disappointed".

"This decision is demoralising for all police officers and our fellow emergency service workers," he said.

Aileen O'Connor, the chair of the Thames Valley Police Federation, said many officers were still "reliving" PC Harper's death.

"I had a message from one of the officers who was involved in the court case at Andrew's hearing, and who was there on the night," she said.

"He gave evidence at that trial and he was mocked - they [Cole, Bowers and Long] were laughing, they were sniggering, they were unremorseful.

"He sent me the news around this, and the potential for their early release, and he's devastated."

In the wake of PC Harper's death, Lissie Harper campaigned for harsher sentences for the manslaughter of emergency workers on duty.

Harper's Law was among the new measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act.

It means that, if convicted today, his killers would not be eligible for the early release scheme.

Following Monday's announcement, PC Harper's mother Debbie Adlam said: "It feels like we're letting Andrew down again.

"We've been through the justice system, we thought we'd done as best as we could."

Thames Valley police and crime commissioner Matthew Barber said it was a "huge disappointment" two of the teenagers had not been "considered to be serious enough offenders".

Barber said he was "confident" an amendment to exclude the killers of emergency services workers from the early release programme would be added to the legislation.

Announcing the amended plans, the justice secretary said 5,000 extra releases - on top of the 4,500 prisoners who typically leave prison each month - would take place in 10 batches from October.

Alex Norris said while he and Burnham would have liked to go further, "we cannot", as the government was trying to avoid running out of prison spaces as soon as October this year.

The justice secretary said about 1,000 prisoners would now not be released early following the revision to the scheme.

"If we drew it any wider we would have a prison capacity crisis," Norris said.

Prisoners released on licence, he said, would be subject to "very significant controls on their lives" and victims would be consulted.